Estonian startup Bisly, which makes green building affordable, raised €3.6 million in a funding round led by Aconterra; supported by Second Century Ventures, REACH UK, SmartCap Green Fund, Pinorena Capital, and various angel investors. Bisly is on a mission to convert conventional buildings into Intelligent Buildings, the vanguard of smart, energy-efficient construction.
It’s common knowledge that buildings are responsible for a whopping 40% of annual global carbon dioxide emissions. While one might assume that this primarily stems from the construction phase, in reality, a significant chunk, around 28%, is attributed to the operational aspect of buildings. Heating, cooling, and lighting consume vast amounts of energy, making it crucial to do so more efficiently.
The Tallinn-based startup works with both commercial and residential properties and is currently deploying projects in cooperation with over 25 real estate developers and funds. The new funding will be used to capture a fast-growing market by widening and deepening Bisly’s market engagement in Europe, with an emphasis on the Nordics, DACH region, and the UK.
Making buildings intelligent
Intelligent buildings extend the potential of smart buildings to be even more efficient by integrating and optimising individual smart controllers for functions such as HVAC, lighting, and security in a single platform.
Bisly’s open-standard tech offers a way to drastically reduce total project costs and easily install sensors with secure, bank-grade encryption. Combining all aspects of intelligent building into one platform, Bisly reduces acquisition costs to be near parity with traditional construction and management practices while drastically cutting installation and running costs. In five years, Bisly has captured 25% of the Estonian market share in building automation.
The global Intelligent Building market is forecasted to hit $148 billion by 2027, a rise of 11.4% CAGR from its current $86 billion value. This market upturn is mainly incentivised by strident ESG compliance and high energy costs. In line with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, EPBD (the EU’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive) sets strict energy efficiency standards for utilising energy in buildings. However, currently, 75% of EU buildings do not meet these new standards.
“With our unified intelligent building platform, Bisly is simplifying a very complex industry that is addressing the even more complex problem of climate change,” said Bisly CEO and co-founder Siim Vips. “People are just becoming familiar with the concept of smart homes or smart buildings, and intelligent buildings go even a step beyond that. We are driven by a high degree of urgency and by the fact that our solution will get more buildings into sustainable operations in less time and less money than any other solution on the market.”
“SmartCap Green Fund’s main objective is to support early-stage green technology companies, whose product or service is directly contributing to meeting the climate goals,” said Sille Pettai, Member of the Board and Fund Manager at SmartCap.
Estonia, which places a strong emphasis on digital innovation and sustainability, is emerging as a hotspot for startups in construction automation and intelligent energy management. Its largest business park is now running an artificial intelligence-based energy management system in all its office buildings to save energy and operating costs.
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